Cobra Pose, Bhujangasana I

How to do Cobra Pose, Bhujangasana I

Bhujangasana I – The Cobra Pose backbend demands more arm strength than Sphinx Pose. It opens the chest, stimulates the digestive organs, and increases mobility in the vertebral column.

1. Lie face down on the floor. Place the palms on the floor under the shoulders, fingers facing forward. Over several releasing exhalations, make your body as long and alive as possible, extending from the back of the waistmdown through the lower back, hips,buttocks, thighs, calves and soles of the feet.

2. Tuck your tailbone under so the pubic bone presses to the floor. Lift your straight knees off the floor while keeping the tops of the feet pressing down to the floor. Inhale and lift the chest upward without using any pressure at all on the palms. Hold for a few breaths. This position works on strenghtening the back. It will give you an idea of which muscles you need to work, and how strong they are without any help from the arms.

3. Now work on mobilising the back. Press the palms to the floor and continue to curl the spine up off the floor. Keep the inner legs and feet together as you press the pubic bone into the floor and move the back arching action a little higher up into the middle back. Pull back with the heels of the hands, so it feels like you are pulling your chest forward, through the arms.

4. Keep the shoulders soft and move down the back as you straighten the arms. Tuck the chin in toward the throat so the back of the neck remains long. Stay here for a few more breaths, expanding the chest on the inhalation and lengthening the spine on the exhalation.

5. When you combine this pose with a hissing sound on each inhalation and an awareness of the line of energy from the perineum to the sacrum, it becomes a mudra, Serpent Seal.

Cobra Pose Video

Tips

Practice moving smoothly in and out of the pose before holding it for longer periods

Effect: Energising, strengthening

Cobra Pose, Bhujangasana I Counter Poses

In yoga we use a counter pose in a sequence; For example, a twist follows a backbend to “neutralise” the spine, or a forward bend follows a backbend to help lengthen the spine and calm the nervous system.

Yoga Lily

Lili has been studying and practising yoga in China & UK for 20 years, and teaching since 2007 (7 years in the UK). She draws inspiration from her training within established, classical yoga systems that focus on alignment, hatha vinyasa in its gentler form, yin, yin/yang, and restorative yoga styles, pranayama and meditation; blending the roots of Chinese healing traditions into a more holistic practice.
For her, practice covers not just the physical aspects of yoga but also aligning and unblocking the bodies meridian energy pathways to release Qi energy (prana) which flows through the bodies energy highway, bringing the mind, body and spirit back into balance.
“I am continually humbled by my students and teachers, my aim is always to teach from the heart and from the idea that yoga is the art of living, listening and learning, to embody this deeply spiritual tradition”
– Lili Chen.